Wednesday, 30 May 2012

Amongst the many things needed as a guest at a family wedding is, most definitely, a new bag, which is why you would have found me last week frantically sewing away the day before we were due to leave for Dublin! As it turned out though the sewing was the easy bit. I had decided to make myself a small handbag using the Kyoko frilled pouch pattern from u-handbag.com that I have used several times before. With no time to visit the LQS before our trip, I was really pleased to find the exact shade of red in my stash, along with grey satin lining in the perfect shade, this bag was meant to be! Once sewn the pouch is threaded on to a metal frame, which is where I hit a rather large problem. I had, I thought, brought the frame with me from Riga, but I discovered when I went to assemble the bag, on the evening before we left, that, in fact, I had only brought half of the frame, the metal rods that the pouch is threaded on to were languishing in the cupboard in Riga.

Fortunately I remembered that I had made this bag a few months ago for my son's girlfriend, who was also going to the wedding.

So, one quick phone call later and the frame was travelling to Dublin to meet up with my pouch the next day.

And here it is. I really like this pattern, it is quick to make and once you have a frame it only takes a minute to change around your bag, which was just as well considering.

The theme of the week has definitely been bags, as not only did I get the bag for the wedding finished I also managed to squeeze in some sewing on the patchwork bag that I had cut out before we left Riga. On the face of it this bag looked to be as straightforward as the frilled pouch, but the instructions were rather vague and I had to work out for myself how to join the squares at the side without having the seam allowance on the right side, and I am not altogether happy with the corners where the lining and the exterior join, but that might have something to do with me rushing it to get another finish in time for my May entry in 12 WIP's in 2012 ! Given the colours of this bag, I have christened it my Jubilee bag as it is finished just in time for the Jubilee weekend.

Having only just recovered from the extravaganza that was the SewMamaSew Giveaway Week, there are even more quilting and blogging delights to be had this week. First up is voting for the Play mini quilt challenge quilts, which closes on Friday at GMT 13.00. There are some fabulous quilts in the challenge so you will be spoilt for choice. Click here to vote for your favourite.

Also on-going is the Let's get acquainted Blog Hop, organised by the very efficient Beth at Plum and June This week's blog posts are from

They are definitely worth checking out! The Blog Hop will continue through till October so there will be lots of new bloggers to meet over the coming months. Check out too the guest blog and giveaway from Deborah at Whipstitch that's running this week.

As it is Wednesday again, here's how my current project list looksCompleted projects

So Congratulations Hippie Housewife I will be in touch to get your address so that I can send your Giveaway Bag Package out. I hope you get as much fun from bag making as I have and I look forward to seeing what you do with these bag making goodies soon. ( I think you are right too about the lemon squares!)

If I didn't get around to replying to your comments whilst we were travelling please be assured that I enjoyed every single one of them, and will have no problem now thinking of suitable cakes for our next afternoon tea.

Monday, 21 May 2012

A weekend in London is the perfect time to savour the delights of afternoon tea, so when my husband and sons organised a sporting weekend for themselves, it wasn't difficult to work out where the females of the family would go! The opportunity for a peek inside the newly renovated St Pancras Renaissance Hotel whilst taking tea was also just too good to miss. So whilst the men donned their rugby shirts and headed off to Twickenham the ladies donned their gladrags and made their way to the more rarefied environment of St Pancras!

As well as beautifully cut sandwiches and scones with jam and cream we had 9 different, dainty cakes to consume. It was a challenge but one we all rose to! Sometimes life is just tough :)

A trip to London wouldn't be complete without a visit to the fabric department of Liberty, and thanks to Needles and Lemons guide to fabric shops in London I was also able to sigh over the fabrics in the many fabric shops on Berwick Street nearby.

How about these to brighten up your day?

Or this for inspiration?

Speaking of inspiration, the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day at the end of last year was so inspiring that I resolved when I started blogging that I would take part in the next Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day, if I could. I am, therefore, delighted to be hosting my first ever Giveaway as part of this year's Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day. Prior to starting this blog and being introduced to the joys of quilting I was an obsessive bag maker. I started off making bags for the bridesmaids at my son's wedding and never really stopped. So, in an effort to introduce a fellow blogger to the delights of bag making I have put together the following Giveaway Bag Pack for my first ever Giveaway.

There are certainly enough supplies there to get anyone started on their first bag, but I must warn you you may well end up hooked!

To win the Giveaway Bag Pack all you need do is tell me which cakes you would like to have on your Afternoon Tea plate.

International entries are, of course, most welcome! The Giveaway will close at 12.00 GMT on Saturday May 26th, when the winning entry will be randomly drawn. If you are a no-reply blogger please remember to leave your email address in the comment otherwise I will be unable to contact you if you win!

For new visitors to my blog I hope you enjoy your visit and I shall look forward to seeing you again some time soon!

Wednesday, 16 May 2012

Knowing that we were having friends over for a long weekend and trips to London and Dublin planned for this month, I did wonder if I was being a bit optimistic in signing up for Jenna's Play mini quilt challenge. It seems though that deadlines really do concentrate the mind as I have just put the finishing touches to my Smart Girl's Ace of Diamonds mini quilt. There were lots of firsts in this for me - my first mini quilt, my first challenge and my first paper-pieced design, so to say I am delighted is definitely an understatement.

There were lots of challenges in the making of this quilt not least of all working out the paper-piecing design, so I am thrilled that it has turned out almost exactly as I had planned it in my head. The original quilt was planned to be longer so that I could include a full circle applique for the ring, but the dimensions just didn't work so I took out a complete row to shorten the quilt. I mulled over lots of quilting ideas, most of which were rejected on the basis of the time they would have taken to complete and went in the end for a straightforward diamond lattice. Even that though wasn't without its challenges as I used a slightly thicker thread with a sheen and I think my machine is still in shock, as the tension has gone to pot since the quilting! Hopefully a rest will sort it out.

As taking out the row left a fair bit of blank space below the ring I added the embroidered phrase just to break it up a bit.

I am not 100% sure of the white quilting lines over the Ace and Diamond blocks but other than that I am pretty happy with the whole thing, and pleased to have completed my first ever challenge!

This means that another project has moved from the ongoing list to the completed list, which is always a good feeling and in a burst of productivity I have cut out the fabrics for my May WIP for 12 WIP's in 2012. This month's WIP to be completed will be a patchwork bag and in keeping with the current Jubilee and Olympic vibe at home I have gone for red, white and blue fabrics! One of our sons will be a volunteer at the Olympics, but I can't see him using the bag when it is finished somehow, can you?

All this progress has obviously gone to my head as not only have I signed up for the In the Bag Ugly Fabric challenge but have also joined Grammie Q's Sunday Morning Quilts Bee and Plum and June's Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop. Let's hope the energy burst continues :)

Wednesday, 9 May 2012

A few weeks ago I signed up for the Novelty and Colors Layer Cake Swap organised by Hilachas where we signed up to send in 12 Layer Cake cuts of a novelty fabric and the same amount of a pre-allocated solid (or a fabric that reads solid) and received in return 24 different Layer Cake cuts back. Well, because I had a bit of indecision about whether my chosen fabrics were suitable or not I ended up sending two lots of each, and so received 48 Layer Cake cuts in the post yesterday!

Here are the Solids I received

And here are the Novelty Layer Cakes. I am delighted with the variety of fabrics I received and can't wait to use them in some of the upcoming Zakka-style SAL projects!

In an earlier post I showed you the plans for my mini for Sew Happy Geek's Play mini quilt challenge, and I am pleased to have some more progress to show on this. Having calculated and cut the pieces for the paper-pieced corners of the playing card, I set to this morning to sew the blocks.

The letter block is from Carol Doak's 300 Paper Pieced blocks book, and has been re sized from the original 3" block to 4" by 3" to fit the planned dimensions of the quilt. The observant amongst you will see that this quilt will be based upon the Ace of Diamonds card, and the really observant amongst you will notice that I am missing a Diamond block! This is why -

When supposedly trimming the last corner I managed to cut off completely the previous corner!!! That will teach me to "just fit in a bit of sewing before breakfast!". Lesson, hopefully, learnt! Next time I am cutting I will not also be working out all the things that I have to do that day.

Having bored you all with my less than stellar attempts at crochet, I am sure you will be as pleased as I am (well maybe not!) that at long last, I have a crochet post that isn't cataloguing my mistakes or pleading for help. Determined that I will master this crochet business, I found a pattern for a Cherry Brooch in an old copy of Making magazine. The pattern was designated for beginners, so couldn't be too taxing I thought, and lo and behold! it wasn't and here is the proof - my very first successful crochet project!

Monday, 7 May 2012

Well, second (or maybe even third) time lucky, I have finally got the points to work out on the Zakka-style SAL tote. They are not perfect by any means, but they are a lot better than the previous attempt so at last I can tick this project off my list! The tote will be a present for my mum's birthday next month, so I am delighted to have got it out of the way early, especially given the angst caused by those zig-zags.

Instead of putting in a magnetic snap closure I used a covered button, and I used a slightly different method to make the handles, so I think they have come out slightly narrower than in the original project. Hopefully, these will be the last linen QST's I ever attempt, although maybe I should check out the Zakka-style book before making such predictions!

I am hoping to fill the bag with some nice yarn, as my mum is a keen knitter, so any recommendations for online yarn retailers would be much appreciated.

Whilst speaking of yarn, I had (yet another!) go at my crochet flower over the weekend, and I am pleased to report that there has been some progress made! The Crafter's Apprentice will be delighted to hear that, I hope, as she has told me that I will get this flower done even if it kills me (or her!).

As you can see it is beginning to look like a flower, much to my amazement I must add. Now all I have to do is work out how to do the last row to add the petals, as you will no doubt not be surprised to hear I am again looking for help (sorry Wendy!) The instructions for the last row say "with the WS of the work facing, work out from the centre of the spiral" which, amazingly, I understand BUT I am struggling to see where to make the stitches it all looks the same to me on the back. I am obviously missing something and I am hoping someone can tell me what it is. When this flower is finished I promise never to attempt another crochet pattern unless I have checked that I understand every single instruction at least three times beforehand :)

When not being confused by crochet patterns I have been working on my plans for Sew Happy Geek's Play mini quilt challenge. Quilts in the challenge are to be based upon a playing card and whilst some of the participants were simply leaving the choice of card to the luck of the draw, I am not so sure of my drafting or piecing skills to be that casual so have decided to base my quilt on the Ace of Diamonds, and have even been toying with the idea of creating my own paper piecing pattern! You can see why I was trying out the crochet as a bit of light relief :)

I will need to get a move on though, as the deadline for the challenge is May 21st and I will only have a few days between then and now to get any sewing done. This also means that whilst all of the patches have been cut now for the last remaining NYB blocks I doubt very much whether any further will be done to them until later this month. I am so pleased that I signed up for the NYB QAL (thanks Judy!) as even though I will not get these blocks completed anytime soon, I have learnt so much through both this and the Littlest Thistle's FPPFTT that I will definitely continue to paper piece now that I have caught the paper piecing bug.

With three Bank Holidays last week in Latvia I had to pick my time to venture to the PO, which operates in a time warp normally anyway, but after a couple of attempts managed to send off my blocks for the Siblings Together quilt, so they will, hopefully, arrive before the May 15th deadline.

Looking forward to seeing what everyone else has been up to and linking up to Manic Monday here, Sew Modern Monday here and Sew Darn Crafty here

Friday, 4 May 2012

Today's post has a very international flavour to it. I have finally got around to putting together some of my photos from our recent trip to Warsaw, and as you can see we had blue skies and brilliant sunshine for the whole of our time there. The sunshine was great when we were enjoying watching the passing parade with a refreshing ice-cream to hand, but not so great when we were lost trying to find the photograph exhibition at the last of the tenements in the old Ghetto!

As you can see we did eventually find the exhibition (it is the right hand photo in the bottom row), which was a montage of photographs of Polish Jews donated by survivors and neighbours from the Jewish Ghetto in WW2. The last tenement is scheduled for demolition in the next year, so we were pleased to have been able to see this exhibition in its natural installation. The Old City was similar in some ways to its equivalent in Riga, but it was an odd experience walking around an Old Town that was, in fact, rebuilt almost entirely after WW2, but looked as though it had been there for over a hundred years.

Despite some lack of activity on the paper-piecing front recently, partly due it has to be said to trips like the one above, I have managed this week to get back into my NYB QAL blocks. Only one to add to the small, but growing, pile I admit, but I have now printed off all of the rest of the templates, so the spirit is willing! Next week will be the last week of the QAL, which has been interesting and frustrating at the same time. I am delighted that I have even been able to manage half of the blocks within the time frame, but frustrated that each one takes so long to do. Despite all the time and effort put in I will have nothing more than a pile of blocks to show for it at the end, unless I make even more blocks!

And for the final part of my international post, a bit of Japanese Zakka-style! This week's project in the SAL was a small pencil case, which has had some comments about quite how small it was i.e. not long enough to hold full-size pencils! It is, however, long enough for pens so I made his and hers versions, husband's for pens, mine for chalk and vanishing ink markers. I had thought of using mine for crochet hooks, as it is the perfect size, but as I only possess one crochet hook at the moment it seemed like overkill!

They were fairly straightforward to make, although it took me two attempts to sew the final stage as I managed to get the lining on the wrong way round in the first attempt and then the pocket inside on the second! That is when you wish you hadn't used linen for the outer plain fabric as ripping out seams on linen is no joke.

It is not much of a finish I admit, but I am linking up to TGIFF anyway, as this is about all of the finishes I am going to see for a while I think.

Wednesday, 2 May 2012

When I posted a photo of 4 blocks completed for the Siblings Together appeal, I didn't really plan on making very many more as I knew we were going away for a couple of days and I think I only signed up to make 4 blocks anyway. Those log-cabin style blocks, however, turned out to be quite addictive. There was always just another combination that might work and would only take a few minutes to put together! So, this is what I ended up with

I even managed to incorporate a few of the charm squares that I won in Erin's fugly fabric giveaway a few weeks ago. I think I'm finished making these blocks but maybe not and a quilt of this block is definitely in my future, but not just yet! Especially given the lack of progress on my current projects :)

I hope you have been having a more productive time than I have. We have a family wedding to go to later this month, so I am hoping that one of those bags will finally move from the Waiting list to the Completed list otherwise I will have nothing to carry my lipstick in!

Tuesday, 1 May 2012

We are just back from a trip to Warsaw and I haven't even had time to sort out the photos or write up a post, but I realised that it was still the first of the month and I had time to link up to the Fresh Sewing Day at Lily's Quilts, so rustled up a mosaic!

Apart from my Sunflower Quilt it has been a bit of a slow month I think. With a trip to Ireland for a family wedding and friends visiting from the UK in May, I fear that this month is not going to be much better. What was I thinking of signing up to Jenna's Play mini-quilt challenge, when I am already behind on the Zakka-style SAL and the NYB blocks! I am already resigned to the tardiness of my NYB blocks, but was hoping to be more organised on the Zakka-style! A forlorn hope I feel.